It was not until the eighteeth century that the pizza of pizzas - pizza made with tomatoes - first appeared. The reason for its tardy appearance is the same as that for spaghetti with tomato sauce, another dish that conquerd naples and wet on to conquer the world. Tomatoes simply were not intruduced to Europe from the New for Europeans to discover thier culinary value and for Neapolitans in particular to incorporate them into their cooking.

Tomato pizza is therefore a relatively recent arrival in the history of food. Yet it is this pizza which has gained worldwide popularity and is generally the image that people have they think of pizza. That there are pizzarias all over the world today attest to its success.

Today's pizza is a piece of leavened dough, usually baked as a round with a wide variety of topping.

Vesions of pizza have been known is southern Italy since ancient times, some topped with olive, seafood, meat and herbs. Made with unleaved dough, they were eaten by both Greeks and Romans.